On 26 Feb 2006 at 8:55, kirby urner wrote: > > > > I just wanted to verify the claim that some Python modules > > really incorporate J semantics. > > > numpy incorporates the idea of 'rank' and 'axes' much the way J or other > array based languages do i.e. you can shape numbers to have however many > axes in some multidimensional box. Then you can do operations on entire > boxes, including in ways which combine them with each other.
I got this from a J document: http://jsoftware.com/books/help/learning/07.htm > In J, every verb has what might be called a natural, or > intrinsic, rank for its argument(s). Here are some examples > to illustrate. For the first example, consider: *: 2 4 *: 2 3 4 4 9 16 > Here, the arithmetic function "square" naturally applies to > a single number(a 0-cell). When a rank-1 array (a list) is > supplied as argument, the function is applied separately to > each 0-cell of the argument. In other words, the natural > rank of (monadic) *: is 0. are you saying that functions in numpy also have intrinsic rank for its arguments. Do some numpy functions have 0 rank regardless of the rank of their arguments? > To be array based, and to use a semantics of tacit programming, appear to me > as separable capabilities. Numpy doesn't try to be like J in this latter > sense. APL isn't quite like J in this sense either, yet is array-based as > well. > > Kirby > I agree, but Paul talked about J "semantics and behaviour". J has tacit semantics so I was wondering if numpy also has this feature. You are saying that numpy doesn't use tacit programming semantics. Here is something I got from: http://www.unb.ca/web/transpo/mynet/Iverson_APL.htm > Tacit programming offers several advantages, including the following: > > 1. It is concise. > 2. It allows significant formal manipulation of definitions. > 3. It greatly simplifies the introduction of programming into any topic. Daniel ***************************** OpenWorld Learning http://www.openworldlearning.org _______________________________________________ Edu-sig mailing list Edu-sig@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig